<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>Reconnection by Thedupshadove</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29155794">Reconnection</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Thedupshadove/pseuds/Thedupshadove'>Thedupshadove</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Wooden Overcoats (Podcast)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Cuddling &amp; Snuggling, Except the hurt was Rudyard Makes a Friend and Undertakers Underground, Gen, Holding Hands, Hurt/Comfort, The Funn siblings can should must and will be soft, They're just bonding, not meant to be shippy though I swear, so this is mostly just comfort</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 09:54:55</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,031</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29155794</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Thedupshadove/pseuds/Thedupshadove</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>It has been a very long day, and the Funns should really get some sleep. But first, they need a minute.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Antigone Funn &amp; Rudyard Funn</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>9</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>22</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Reconnection</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>After a long, <i>long</i> day, Antigone is relieved to be laying Rudyard into the bed he’s meant to stay in for the next two weeks, before heading off to bed herself. </p><p>(They had slept in the same room for years, until their parents died and Rudyard moved into the master bedroom, leaving Antigone to stay in the same room as before, when she’s not sleeping in the mortuary. She’s got herself quite a comfortable blanket nest down there. Rudyard’s old bed has long since been pawned.)</p><p>But as she rises and turns to go, he reaches out and takes her hand. “Antigone….”</p><p>“What?”</p><p>She turns back around and sees that he looks pensive. “I….it….don’t go? Just yet?”</p><p>She hesitates for a moment, then sits down on the bed. Her instinct is to ask if he wants to know if she managed to pick Chapman’s pocket while they were down there, but she finds herself holding that back and instead asking again, “What is it?”</p><p>He doesn’t say anything, but she notices that he’s moved his hand a little and—good grief, he’s started to feel her pulse. She doesn’t know whether to laugh, cry, or roll her eyes. “I’m alive, Rudyard.”</p><p>“Yes….yes it seems that you are. Still, I didn’t think it would hurt to check.” He still hasn’t let go. </p><p>Antigone sighs, not too irritated. The last time they did this was more than two decades ago, after she’d had a particularly nasty nightmare. Maybe she should feel silly, doing it again at her age, but….if there was ever a day that called for it. </p><p>She gets back up enough to lift the blankets, then slides under them herself, Rudyard gratefully shifting over to make room for her. It’s a little tricky to find a position that allows them to be close without risking Rudyard’s injured foot, but they manage it, and before long they’re lying forehead to forehead, matching their breathing. Rudyard pats her down, as though confirming that she’s solid. Then he goes back to holding her hand. “You’re safe”, he repeats, voice slightly shaking, “You’re safe.”</p><p>“Yes.”</p><p>“My baby sister is safe.”</p><p>“Your <i>twin</i> sister is safe.”</p><p>He exhales, seems to calm down a little. “Is it strange that I’m the one needing comfort, when you were the one stuck under rubble?”</p><p>“Maybe. But then again, I knew we were both alive.”</p><p>“True. Ye gods, that was awful. I kept trying to dig, to <i>find</i> you, but it just wasn’t <i>working</i> and--”</p><p>“But I wasn’t dead. And I’m still not.”</p><p>“--and the last time we’d really talked to each other, we’d fought!”</p><p>“What?”</p><p>“Remember? Because you and Georgie had figured out what Jerry was doing but I didn’t want to listen so I just spat out every nasty thing I could?”</p><p>Oh. That. It feels like forever ago. “Never mind about that. Besides, I suppose it’s understandable. Here was your first real friend, and there was your bitter, shut-in witch of a sister trying to drag you away from him.”</p><p>He looks her dead in the eye, serious. “There was a madman using me for his own ends. And here was my first companion trying to save me. And I didn’t listen. And I could have gotten her killed.”</p><p>“But you didn’t. And even if….if something had happened, the <i>real</i> fault would have lied with the man who set off the bomb.”</p><p>And, she reflects to herself, use him is right. Separated from the immediate frustration of him skipping out when she’d needed him, she can examine the memories and notice Rudyard’s <i>glee</i> at having someone outside their business want to spend time with him. What must it have felt like, the moment when he realized that camaraderie had been a lie? If Jerry hadn’t fallen to his own bomb, Antigone would be sorely tempted to take him out herself. Instead she says, “I <i>was</i> lonely, you know.” </p><p>“What, really? Did Chapman actually manage to shut up?”</p><p>“No, I mean….after you were born. Mother felt….too big, without you.”</p><p>He reaches over and touches her hair. “Really? Then why did you stay so long behind me? At the time, I assumed you were glad to have her to yourself.”</p><p>“Something like stage fright, actually. I kept thinking, well, they’ve got a child now, trying to do another labour would just be awkward. They were getting used to having you around, I was sure that adding me would only complicate things. And the longer I stayed in, the more awkward it felt, and so on. In the end they had to force me out because they were worried about Mother.”</p><p>“Mmmm, yes, I remember. I heard vague talk, and then we were going back to the hospital. I was afraid they were going to try to put me back, for some reason.” She gives a startled laugh and he scowls. “I’m serious! I thought I’d accidentally taken nutrients that I wasn’t supposed to have, and in order to save her she was going to have to re-absorb me, and they’d let her do it because they had another child waiting in the wings.”</p><p>Antigone stares for a moment. “We’re incredible, aren’t we?”</p><p>“I suppose that’s one way of putting it. Still, after all the hullabaloo was done, it was nice to see you again.”</p><p>“Likewise.”</p><p>“They put us in a bassinet together, and it was just like old times.”</p><p>“I remember.” </p><p>Maybe that’s why they turn to this, when one or both of them needs soothing. Create a nest and remind themselves that they’re still together.</p><p>She’s halfway tempted to let them fall asleep together, as they’ve done in the past, but if she rolls over she might hit Rudyard’s foot. So, giving his hand another squeeze for good measure, she pulls away and rises from the bed. “Goodnight, Rudyard.”</p><p>“Goodnight. And….”</p><p>“Yes?”</p><p>“Try not to die of delayed-effect dust inhalation in your sleep, alright?” He pauses. “I can’t afford to hire an outside mortician.”</p><p>Now she does roll her eyes. “Do you really think I’d leave the business in your hands alone?”</p><p>She thinks she sees him smile. “Of course not.”</p>
  </div></div>
</body>
</html>